Campaign 2016: Braving long lines to avoid longer lines on Election Day

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - While the initial release of election results tomorrow might amount to 30 percent of the total vote, counting could continue to 5 a.m. or after on Wednesday, later than usual, San Diego County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said Monday.

Vu said as many as 400,000 ballots that were mailed in, dropped off or submitted in early voting at the registrar's Kearny Mesa office will be included in the first results, to be released shortly after 8 p.m.

In recent elections, the first results have set the tone for the rest of the night, particularly in whether a race will be close or not.

But after that first release of results, the wait will begin.

Large numbers of ballot totals from the precincts aren't expected to be released until sometime around 11 p.m. Subsequent releases will be dependent on when trucks with ballot boxes arrive at the registrar's office.

Vu said all the precinct ballots might not arrive until after 1 a.m. and the final unofficial election night results may not be done until after 5 a.m.

He warned that some races might not be decided by the end of the Election Night count. He said that while around a half-million mail ballots have been turned in so far, another 150,000 to 200,000 will be dropped off Tuesday.

"This is not really a new phenomenon," said Vu. "We're just likely to have a higher volume of outstanding ballots."

But it could leave tight races up in the air.

"It's not over on Election Night and it hasn't been for a long, long time," Vu said. "Close contests are not decided until all the ballots are in the count."

He said results for tight races must wait until election workers process, review and inspect every ballot -- precinct, provisional, mail-in and damaged.

Adding to the counting workload are numerous races for offices and ballot measures that led to a two-card ballot for the first time locally, a projected turnout of 75 percent or more, a record 1.65 million registered voters in the county and 1,552 polling places in the region, 30 more than the June primary election, the registrar said.

Opening his first official week in office, President Donald Trump warned business leaders Monday that he would impose a "substantial border tax" on companies that move their manufacturing out of the United States, while promising tax advantages to companies that produce products domestically.

Opening his first official week in office, President Donald Trump warned business leaders Monday that he would impose a "substantial border tax" on companies that move their manufacturing out of the United States, while promising tax advantages to companies that produce products domestically.

Pledging emphatically to empower America's "forgotten men and women," Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking command of a riven nation facing an unpredictable era under his assertive but untested leadership.

Pledging emphatically to empower America's "forgotten men and women," Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking command of a riven nation facing an unpredictable era under his assertive but untested leadership.

Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump traded in his beloved private plane for a military jet Thursday and swooped into Washington for three days of inaugural festivities. As the president-elect left New York behind, the capital braced for an onslaught of inaugural crowds and demonstrators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump traded in his beloved private plane for a military jet Thursday and swooped into Washington for three days of inaugural festivities. As the president-elect left New York behind, the capital braced for an onslaught of inaugural crowds and demonstrators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, adopted a tough new line on Russia on Wednesday, calling it a "danger" to the United States and saying he would have recommended a muscular response to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, adopted a tough new line on Russia on Wednesday, calling it a "danger" to the United States and saying he would have recommended a muscular response to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Opening his first news conference since the election, President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to suggestions that U.S. intelligence agencies leaked unsubstantiated reports to the media about his relationship with Russia, calling it a "tremendous blot on their record if they did that."

Opening his first news conference since the election, President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to suggestions that U.S. intelligence agencies leaked unsubstantiated reports to the media about his relationship with Russia, calling it a "tremendous blot on their record if they did that."

Sen. Jeff Sessions cast himself as a strong protector of law and order at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, promising that as attorney general he would crack down on illegal immigration, gun violence and the "scourge of radical Islamic terrorism."

Sen. Jeff Sessions cast himself as a strong protector of law and order at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, promising that as attorney general he would crack down on illegal immigration, gun violence and the "scourge of radical Islamic terrorism."

Donald Trump's "first order of business" will be to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and replace it, but Republicans must avoid hurting consumers as they do that, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday.

Donald Trump's "first order of business" will be to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and replace it, but Republicans must avoid hurting consumers as they do that, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday.